Investigating
a possible sighting of White-eyed River-Martin: by Doug Judell

White-eyed
River Martin
(Photo by H. E. McClure)

In March of 2004 Wayne Mcullum thought he saw a group of White-eyed
River-Martin, Eurochelidon sirintarae, while birdwatching
in Cambodia. He tentatively identified it using Craig Robson's
book "Birds of Southeast Asia", but it wasn't until
afterwards when he read the accompanying text that he realized
that it would be a very rare sighting indeed; subsequently
he contacted Wildlife Conservation Society [WCS] in Phnom
Penh and suggested that they send someone to investigate his
sighting. At the time I was living in Cambodia teaching English
as a volunteer to some of the WCS staff so it was suggested
that as an experienced birdwatcher I accompany Wayne on a
second trip to the area of his sighting.

In
mid 2004 I met Wayne and we took a boat for an hour or so up a river
and walked around a sparsely populated area where Wayne worked;
there were Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica, Red-rumped Swallows
Hirundo daurica, Treeswifts Hemiprocne spp, Bee-eaters
Merops spp and many more species that could conceivably
be confused with White-eyed River-Martin. There were, however, no
signs of our target. Wayne told me that the location of his previous
sighting was another hour further along the river and that we did
not have time to make it that day. He had work and I had other plans
and it was decided that as all previous sightings of White-eyed
River-Martin in South-East Asia had occurred in the winter months
and that it was widely considered to be a migrant to the region
during these months (Tobias, 2000) it would make more sense to try
again later in the year. Shortly after that I came down with Falciparum
malaria and was forced to leave Cambodia for the next year and a
half.

On my return
to Cambodia in March 2006 I met with another NGO worker who Wayne
had suggested I contact and we rented a boat for an overnight trip
to the exact place where Wayne's possible sighting occurred. We
reached this location at approximately 4 pm, with an interpreter,
and met the farmer on whose land the sighting had taken place. The
farmer remembered Wayne and claimed to be familiar with the species
that Wayne had seen, stating that he saw it every year in March
and April just after he cut his one hectare reed bed. He reported
that up to 20 of them flew around the stream at dusk catching insects
and that we had only 20 minutes to wait to, hopefully, confirm Wayne's
sighting. We managed to discover that he had never noticed the birds
at any other time of the year and that he was unaware of any nests:
he could also describe the noises it makes. The farmer seemed convinced
that they were nothing out of the ordinary, a fact of which he was
doubly convinced when he saw that it was pictured on the back of
A guide to the Birds of Thailand by Lekagul and Round (1991).

I later asked
him if he had ever noticed the white rump and he took that as further
proof that I was familiar with the bird because he said he could
almost never see it as they flew too fast when they were catching
insects and when perched on poles in the stream (set as supports
for fishing nets) the white rump was not visable. My Khmer language
skills are between poor and non-existent but even I could understand
when he told the interpreter that we should look in "the big
reed bed' close to town.The farmer seemed a practical man and a
credible source of information; his observations of the bird in
the winter months tie in with previous observations; his comment
that the birds are associated with reedbeds fits in with previous
assumptions (Birdlife International, 2001; Tobias, 2000); the observation
that they are active shortly before dusk is in keeping with those
who speculate that White-eyed River-Martin may be crepuscular or
nocturnal (Rasmussen, 2000).

Having forged
a bond with this farmer the NGO worker and his interpreter accompanying
me announced that we had to leave dispite being told that the birds
would likely appear within 20 minutes (the time was 20 to 5). Over
my strong objections I was forced to leave and was taken out of
the region. When we returned to town the next morning I called WCS
and told them the strange story of my investigation and being forced
to leave 20 minutes before I could see what Wayne saw. They subsequently
received a call from the NGO worker asking for grant money to "study
the possible sighting".

Despite numerous
attempts on my part I have not been able to return and I am currently
researching White-eyed River-Martin from Chiang Mai in northern
Thailand. Every time I have attempted to return to the farmer's
reedbed it seems that I have been prevented from making the trip
by falling victim to attempted scams, unhelpful interference by
the police and a general lack of assistance to reach my goal. Whether
these are coincidences, or someone is intent on preventing me from
returning is difficult to tell, however, it is possible that my
presence in the region of the original sighting is "inconvenient"
to developers.

I will continue
my ongoing investigation into Wayne's sighting over the next few
months by creating a printed sheet of White-eyed River-Martin and
possible confusion species before returning to the location to further
question the farmer to see if he is able to differentiate between
these and, most importantly, to enquire if there is a Khmer name
for the species, which would add weight to the concept of it having
been present in the region over a long period. In 2007 I intend
to be present at this site when the reedbed is cut to see what exactly
it is that arrives just before dusk to catch insects.

Doug
contacted me with this information after I had made enquiries about
White-eyed River-Martin whilst researching the species in order
to write an assignment for my second year degree studies in Wildlife
and Countryside Conservation at Bishop Burton College, East Yorkshire,
UK. To read my assignment click
here. I have arranged to accompany Doug to Cambodia next year
in order to meet the farmer who appears to be able to add some credible
information to the possible sighting made by Wayne Mcullum in 2004
who, Doug tells me, is an experienced naturalist, although not exclusively
a bird watcher, and did make his observation with the benefit of
binoculars and Craig
Robson's Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand.

If anyone else
has details of any unconfirmed sightings of White-eyed River-Martin
I would be very interested to hear of them. Please E-mail the details
to me:nickupton@thaibirding.com

Nick
Upton, 1st August 2006.

Further
Comment

The
only other possible sighting of White-eyed River Martin that I have
heard of in recent years is one by Genie Silver from a trip report
to Prek Tol Bird Sanctuary in January 2003, posted on the Birdchat
website. It seems that this observation was not made
under the most reliable of conditions with a less than satisfatory
aid to identification -

"The
motor boat that we took to the inner sanctuary was not in great
shape and the motor died not infrequently. Our guide did not speak
English and what he possessed to inform us of what birds we were
seeing were two large laminated sheets with the pictures of the
birds and their names written in English, French and Khmer. There
was scanty information about some of the birds, whether they were
endangered, and how many pairs usually nested at the sanctuary.
The guide did not spot birds -- I would see a bird and ask him
what it was and he would point to it on the laminated sheets."

This sighting
attracted a lot of attention and after being contacted by other
birders Genie decided that it was likely to be a case of mistaken
identity. I contacted Genie to enquire after the details of her
observation and this is what she had to say -

"I
wish I knew exactly where the White-eyed River Martin was pointed
out to us by the guide, but I don't. We were on the river on our
way to the tall wooden viewing stand for the storks and the bird
flew by fast in a swampy area. I asked the guide [a non birder]what
the bird was and he pointed out the White-eyed River Martin on
the laminated sheet of birds. I am sorry, but that is the best
I can do. At the time we saw the bird we were still in an open
motorized boat, before we transferred to flat canoes to get close
to the viewing stand."

So, it seems
that this "sighting" is almost certainly a misidentification,
however, it remains intriguing in light of the possible sighting
under investigation by Doug Judell.